Armor.



No. 700,082. Patented may l3, I902.

J. .l. PINDAK.

ARMUR.

(Application filed Aug. 1, 1901.

(No Model.)

WITNESSES r. I- v50 r00 Jkn fiz'nm 2 B) ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

JOHN JOSEPH PINDAK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ARMOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 700,082, dated May 13,1902.

Application filed August 1, 1901. Serial No. 70,508. (lie model.)

T0 at whom it 712/07 concern:

Be it known thatI, JOHN J osErrr PINDAK, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,have invented a new and Improved Armor, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved armor forthe sides of war and other vessels, turrets, and other devices to beprotected against projectiles, the armor being simple and durable inconstruction, readily applied or removed, and arranged to break theforce of the projectile and to equalize and distribute the blow orimpact over a large area, thus applying the greatest resistance to thepenetrating power of the projectile and preventing the latter frombreaking or rupturing the armor.

The invention consists of novel features and parts and combinations ofthe same, as will be fully described hereinafter and then pointed out inthe claims.

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in whichsimilar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all theviews.

Figure l is a cross-section of the improvement on the line 1 l in Fig.3.- Fig. 2 is a similar view of the same on the line 2 2 in Fig. 3. Fig.3 is a sectional plan view of the same. Fig. 4 is an edge elevation ofone of the armor-plates, and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one end ofan armor-plate.

The improved armor consists, essentially, of armor-plates A A A fittedone alongside the other and abutting at their ends to produce anunbroken area, and each plate is pro vided at its ends withinwardly-projecting spaced and parallel spring-arms B, extending beyondthe ends of the plate, as is plainly indicated in Figs. 3, t, and 5.Each of the arms 13 has a foot B, resting on a chair C, bolted, riveted,or otherwise secured to a steel foundation D, secured to or forming partof the side of the vessel or other device on which armor is to be used.Each chair C is provided with slotted lugs or guideways C between eachfoot 13 of an armor-plate, and through the several slotted lugs orguideways extends a key E, also extending through a transverse grooveB", formed on the outer faces of the feet 13, as will be readilyunderstood by reference to Figs. 2 and 3. By this arrangement the footof each spring-arm Bis guided in the direction of the length of thespring-arms, and in case a projectile strikes a plate the springarmsyield and the keys E guide the feet of the spring-arms in a longitudinaldirection. It is understood that in case a projectile strikes thearmor-plate the impact thereof causes the plate to yield, thespring-arms extending in opposite directions and returning as soon asthe plate is relieved of the pressure, so that the several parts againassume their normal position, as shown in the drawings.

From each foot B of a spring-arm extends upwardly or outwardly anextension-arm B terminating in a transversely-grooved head 13', restingon the rear or inner face of the next adjacent plate, the contact-pointbeing about one-third the length of a plate from the edge thereof, aswill be understood by reference to Fig. 3. A key F engages the severalgrooves of the heads B, and this key is held to slide in guideways Gr,formed or secured to the rear or inner side of the correspondingarmor-plate, the action of the key F and guideway G being the same asthat of the key E in the guideway C.

By the construction described the springarms of each armor-plate areapproximately U -shaped, with a portion resting 011 the chairs C and theother remaining portion supporting adjacent armor-plates, thespring-arms supporting the said armor-plates a distance from the sidefoundation D to form an aircushion for the armor-plates. It will furtherbe evident by reference to Fig. 3 that each armor-plate has itsspring-arm resting on the said foundation D, and each armor-plate is inaddition supported by the extension-arms of adjacent armor-plates, sothat a very firm support for each armor-plate is obtained. The arms ofadjacent plates are arranged to interlock, as will be readily understoodby reference to Fig. 2, to give the desired support to the arms forproperly supporting the armor-plates, said interlocking arms alsopreventing displacement of a plate.

The entire armor-plate can be readily at taehed to the side of anyvessel, turret, or

other device and can also be easily detached whenever desired bywithdrawing the several keys E and I and leaving the plates out ofposition.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent- 1. Armor comprising plates each havingyieldable arms which have bearing against a suitable backing and againstadjacent armorplates, as and for the purposes set forth.

2. An armor, comprising armor-plates, and

spring-arms thereon, projecting inwardly to rest on the side of thevessel and thereby yieldingly support an armor-plate and form anair-cushion for the same, each springarm also forming a support for anadjacent armor-plate, as set forth.

3. An armor, comprising armor-plates having their ends provided withintegral springarms extending inwardly, and chairs on which thespring-arms are slidably held, as set forth.

4. An armor, comprising armor-plates having their ends provided withintegral springarms extendinginwardly,and chairs on which saidspring-arms are slidably held, said arms having extensions forsupporting the next adjacent armor-plate a distance from the endthereof, as set forth.

5. An armor, comprising armor-plates each having inwardly-projectingspringarms at each end, each spring-arm being formed with a foot and anextensionhaving'ahead, chairs and keys for receiving and holding thefeet of the spring-arms, and keys and guideways on the armor-plates forreceiving the grooved heads of the spring-arms of an adjacent plate, asset forth.

6. Armor comprising plates each having yieldable arms disposed incrossing relation, means for movably confining said arms against asuitable backing, and means whereby the arms of one plate are movablyconnected with an adjacent plate or plates.

7. Armor comprising plates each having a series of yieldable arms whichare fashioned to produce thereon two points of bearing, one of whichpoints of each arm engages with a suitable backing and the other pointof bearing engaging with an adjacent armor-plate.

8. Armor comprising plates each having yield-able arms disposed incrossing relation to arms on adjacent plates, a suitable foundation orbacking, means for slidably holding said arms on the foundation, andother means for loosely confining the free ends of said arms on the rearsides of the armor-plates.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN JOSEPH PINDAK.

Vitnesses:

JOHN B. PALLAscn, O. A. STILLE.

